


Waking Dreams

by LeastExpected_Archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon Divergence - The Lord of the Rings, Character Death, Drama, First Time, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-04
Updated: 2002-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeastExpected_Archivist/pseuds/LeastExpected_Archivist
Summary: by Belegephelin which Frodo finds himself faced with an alternate reality, and wakes up.
Relationships: Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee, Sean Astin/Elijah Wood
Kudos: 2
Collections: Least Expected





	Waking Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Amy Fortuna, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Least Expected](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Least_Expected), which has been offline since 2002. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Least Expected collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/leastexpected/profile).
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters: His. Actors: themslevs. Story line: mine.
> 
> Feedback: yes please. i'd really like to know what you think.
> 
> Story Notes: Again, something quite different. I don't think it came out quite as well as I'd hoped, but I got the idea out of my brain at last. It was hounding me. Hope you enjoy.

Something shifted in the bushes. Frodo opened heavy eyelids to find Sam's gentle brown eyes staring back at him. Ever since they had broken the Fellowship at Amon Hen, the Ring's power had been weighing him down, making him sink further into himself. He could feel the skin being stretched over his bones. Looking at Gollum, a few feet away from he and his friend, he shivered.

Sam's worried expression brought him back to reality. "What day is it, Sam?" he whispered, his voice nearly gone.

"Oh, dear Mr. Frodo, it's Monday, almost to elevenses," he replied softly. Stroking his master's forehead, he sighed gently. His warm breath fanned Frodo's cheek like a soft breeze from the Shire. It raised empty hopes in his chest, temporarily chasing away the cold that pulsed in his veins. A soft kiss to his lips was like sweet honey mixed in tea at noon on a summer's eve.

Sam had become everything to him since they left the Shire. The younger hobbit gave up his own dreams of settling down and his stability in life to journey with Frodo, fearlessly and stubbornly refusing to leave his side, even in death.

He felt himself drifting. The red wheel moved into view, its heat burning the hobbit's skin. The eye turned to him, and locked him in its gaze. That wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't wearing the ring.

"Sam!" he cried, "Sam! Help me!"

Sam hauled Frodo into his lap, caressing his master's head with a rough hand. Frodo felt the touch from far away, drifting in a sea of fire. His head pounded as though it were going to split at any second. The Ring had an audible voice, and he could hear its awful cry, demanding that its Lord take it back. It did not want to be on Frodo's hand any longer.

Above him, Frodo saw all of his friends standing on a ledge, merely watching.

Confusion clouded his mind as they did nothing. "Please!" he screamed, his eyes begging them to do anything. "Oh, Elbereth, it hurts," he murmured to himself.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his own above the molten liquid. He looked to see Sam there beside him, floating along with him. He almost smiled around the pain, but realized that Sam had once again given up everything for Frodo. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at his friend.

"Oh, Sam, why did you come? Why did you do it? I'm not worth all this, you silly miracle," he asked, his voice despairing.

"Because I love you, Mister Frodo, and I told you, I ain't gonna lose you, not even to no lake of fire. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth and back, if you take my meaning."

Frodo kissed the back of the hand that gripped his own firmly.

The pair floated on, losing sight of the rest of the Fellowship. They talked wistfully of happier days in the Shire, and of merry gatherings and the people they had met in the length of the journey.

Suddenly, Sam's grip began to loosen. The current of the river became stronger, and Frodo was torn away from his faithful companion. Sam didn't look afraid as he was sucked away from his master, but Frodo was terrified. He'd never been without Sam, and had come to love his best friend more than anything he'd ever known. He groped blindly, but Sam's hand evaded him.

He heard a rushing noise, and knew there was a rapid or waterfall up ahead. Tears screamed down his face as Sam disappeared.

"Sam! Saaaaaaam! Nooooooo!" he screamed, just before being swept over himself.

Elijah sat up in the darkness of his hotel room, shaking and out of breath. As his senses returned, he found that his sheets and his clothes were soaked in sweat, some of which still lingered on his skin, beaded in tiny little droplets down his arms, across his lip and forehead.

The clock on the bedside table read 4:23 am. He rubbed his head with slick palms, willing the sick feeling in his stomach away. He needed nicotene, and bad. Getting up, he padded towards the door.

Just before he reached it, a loud pounding from outside startled him so that he sat hard down on his rear on the floor.

"Damn it, Lijah, open the fucking door!" a voice screamed.

His blue eyes nearly knocked down the door themselves with the force behind their movement. He knew who it was, without even having to think about it. The thing he didn't know was how or why the owner of that voice was standing outside the door of his hotel room. He was supposed to be halfway around the world.

There was a horrendous crash and a thunderous cracking of wood as the door fell open, the pin missing from the top hinge.

Elijah looked up, sheepish. The voice had shocked him into mock paralysis, and he couldn't move. His eyes begged forgiveness, while his face was a mask of the emotions he had experienced in his dream.

The brown eyes that stared down at him were worried, a brilliant fire shining in their depths as they watched the lithe figure on the floor.

"Elijah, shit, man. Where the hell were you?"

"Sean," he breathed, his voice shaky and faint.

In an instant, the older man was on his knees beside him. Elijah leaned into strong arms willingly, a brief release from the fear that had enveloped him so recently. He had never expected his savior to come through in real life. He breathed in Sean's scent carefully, so as not to forget it, even after his older friend was gone and he had to climb back into bed alone.

Sean softly kissed Elijah's head. "I was home asleep, and I dreamed something had happened to you. I woke up, and I still felt uneasy. I had to find you," he offered.

"Oh, Sean. I thought I'd lost you," the younger man sobbed. It was inevitable. He couldn't stop the tears that flowed in rivulets from his ethereal blue eyes. Sean's hands gently traced the lines of Elijah's face as he studied the sharp planes, concern written plainly on his face.

"Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.

"No, I'm all right. Now that you're here, anyway," Elijah replied, touching his fingers gently to Sean's chest.

"You're never going to lose me, you hear? I'll always be here for you, no matter how many times you tell me to go away. You're too special to me to let anything happen to you. I'm going to be your shadow, for as long as you can stand me, and even longer than that if I have my way, if you take my meaning," the older man promised, his eyes dark with conviction.

"Why'd you do it, Sean? Why'd you come to my rescue yet again?" Elijah whispered, laying back in Sean's arms, just as he had in the filming of "Return of the King". His eyes hooded over sleepily as he stared up at his gaurdian.

"Because I love you, Mister Wood, and I don't want to lose you, and I'd follow you to the ends of the earth and back just to see your eyes smiling at me, filled with hope and trust. I like to know that I put that there," Sean replied quietly, his eyes trained on the beautiful young man in his arms.

He pressed his lips to Elijah's sweetly. The touch lasted only seconds but spoke a thousand words to both hearts.

Elijah smiled lazily. "I love you, too, Sean. And I think..." he yawned, drifting deeper into the land of dreams, "...that I've finally found home."


End file.
